John Raney Wins District 14 Seat

Voters in most of Bryan/College Station have elected John Raney to his first full term in the Texas House of Representatives.

Tuesday, the Republican incumbent defeated Democrat Judy LeUnes and Libertarian Joshua Baker to win the District 14 seat, which includes the vast majority of the two cities. Raney scored 60 percent of the vote to LeUnes' 36 percent and Baker's 4 percent.

Last year, Raney won a special election to fill the unexpired term of Fred Brown, who left the district to pursue business opportunities. Raney triumphed over four other candidates, including LeUnes and Baker.

The representative will head to his first legislative session as a state representative in January.

Raney has owned a local bookstore since his time as a student at Texas A&M, where he graduated in 1969. He was the chairman of the Republican Party in Brazos County for much of the 1970s.

Kyle Kacal will join Raney as a rookie in the upcoming legislative session. The Brazos County rancher won election to the newly-created District 12, which covers the remainder of Brazos County, along with all of Robertson, Falls and Limestone Counties and part of McLennan County.

Brenham's Lois Kolkhorst was unopposed for the District 13 seat she first won in 2000. The Republican will represent Burleson, Grimes and Washington Counties, along with four others to the southwest.

District 57 incumbent Marva Beck of Centerville was defeated in the May Republican primary by Lufkin's Trent Ashby, who was unopposed for the general election. The district was drastically redrawn, and currently includes Leon and Madison Counties, plus four others to the east.

Terms in the Texas House are two years long. There are 150 state representatives.

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Steve Fullhart anchors First News at Four and News 3 at Five weekdays, and serves as KBTX's managing editor. He joined the Brazos Valley’s news leader in May 2004 and has anchored, reported for and produced every newscast at KBTX over his time at the station.